Reinforced pallet



Jan. 3, 1961 2,967,036

D. B. PHILLIPS REINFORCED PALLET Filed May 25, 1959 4' *v 25 1:51am i, a25 I 20 Ila 15 I INVENTOR.

/ 29 DAVID B. PHILLIPS I511 30 29 30 7 BY ATTORNEY States Patent2,967,036 7 Patented Jan. 3,1961

REINFORCED PALLET David B. Phillips, Berea, Ohio, assignor to HinchclilfHardwood Lumber Company, Strongsville, Ohio, a corporation of Ohio FiledMay 25, 1959, Ser. No. 815,564

3 Claims. (Cl. 248-120) This invention relates to the art of palletconstruction and in particular has reference to an improved type ofpallet having reinforcing means incorporated therein that improve thelifting properties of the same.

In the art of pallet construction, it has long been known that a palletcan be formed by employing a series of parallel stringers that arespaced apart in parallelism and which are-connected at their top andbottom surfaces by transversely extending deck board members.

Normally, such pallets are of hard wood construction and conventionalpractice dictates design of these pallet members so that the liftingfork of a lift truck may be inserted between the deck boards and thestringers to effectuate a lifting of the entire pallet together with thematerial stored thereon.

Past improvements in this art have included the substitution of blocksfor the stringer members so as to permit four sided entry andadditionally, it has been proposed in the past to add metallic plates onthe external surface of a pallet for the purpose of prolonging the lifethereof.

While pallets of the above type have been found satisfactory in mostcommercial instances, it has been found in several cases that thepallets will have their usefulness prematurely terminated when subjectedto extreme load or when the same are employed in connection wiih thestorage and handling of certain items.

In this regard, and particularly in the automobile industry, it has beencommon to use pallets for supporting and transferring large sheetmembers that are of great weight but which possess little rigidity intheir unassembled form. In such instances, it frequently happens thatwhen the pallet and sheet are moved by placing a chain around the palletand between the deck boards, the pallet will be broken due to thepulling force that is exerted on its edges by the chain member, with thelack of rigidity of the sheet member preventing the same from assumingthese forces, as would be the case with a solid object. Thus, the weightof the object, coupled with its lack of rigidity, results'in prematuredestruction of the ordinary pallet.

'It has been discovered that the aforementioned disadvantages can beobviated by providing a reinforcing bar between the longitudinal ends ofthe stringer and the deck boards attached on such stringer at itsopposite ends. In this fashion and by sandwiching the reinforcing platebetween the deck board and the stringer, theiron frame member becomes arigid reinforcing member that enables the pallet to withstand loadsapplied transversely of the stringers and deck boards, with the resultthat the pallet is enabled to be applied for more uses to enhance itsvalue.

It has been further found that if this reinforcing member is made ofright angle configuration and is further rounded at its bend point, thatthe same will not interfere with the life of the chain or ropemechanisms that are employed to lift the pallet in such instances.

It accordingly becomes the principal object of this invention to providean improved type of pallet having reinforcing means structurallyincorporated between certain components thereof for the purpose ofincreasing the overall strength and handling capacity of the pallet.

It is a further object of this invention to provide such a palletwithout materially increasing the cost of the pallet in proportion tothe size that is involved.

These and other objects of this invention will become more apparent upona reading of the following brief specification, considered andinterpreted in the light of the accompanying drawings.

Of the drawings:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the improved pallet.

Figure 2 is a sectional view taken on the lines 2-2 of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a sectional view similar to Figure 2 but being broken awayand showing a modified form of the invention.

Referring now to the drawings and in particular to Figure 1, theimproved pallet, generally designated by the numeral 10, is shown havinga plurality of elongate stringers 11, 12 and 13 that are preferablyarranged in spaced apart parallel relationship with each other and whichare interconnected on opposed surfaces by parallel top and bottom deckboards 14, 14 and 15, 15, respectively, with the preferred embodiment ofthe invention showing five such top deck boards 14 and four such bottomdeck boards 15.

Referring next to Figure 2, it will be seen that the longitudinal ends11a and 11b of the stringer 11 are provided with undercuts 1'6, 16, withit being understood that similar undercuts 16, 16 are provided on thelongitudinal ends of the stringers 12 and 13. In this fashion, thetransversely aligned recesses 16, 16 form a seat for the reinforcingmembers 20 and 21, with these members being preferably identical inconfiguration and with the member 20 being located at the rear of pallet10, while the member 21 is located at the forwardmost portion thereof asis clearly shown in Figure 1 of the drawings.

As indicated above, the reinforcing members 20 and 21 are preferably ofidentical configuration and, .accord-.

ingly, each is shown including a base section 22 and a leg section 23,with the base section fitting in the recess 16 so as to permit flushengagement between the top deck boards 14 and the stringers 11, 12 and13. Additionally, these base sections 22 are each provided withapertures 23a, 23a so as to permit the passing therethrough of a bolt24, with each reinforcing member 20 and 21 being shown as preferablyincluding three such openings so as to facilitate the attachment of thebolts that pass through the stringers 11, 12 and 13.

In order to prevent the formation of a sharp edge at the juncture of thebase and leg portion 23, the outer edge of the angle, indicatedgenerally by the numeral 25, is shown rounded in contour, wtih the inneredge being preferably substantially at right angles so as to facilitateflush reception against the deck board 15.

In addition to the aforementioned component parts, it will be furthernoted that the end deck boards 14a and 14b of Figures 1 and 2 areprovided with counterbored apertures 26, 26 that are designed to receivethe heads of the bolts 24, with two such apertures being preferablyprovided at each point of attachment with each stringer. Additionally,the ends of each stringer are bored as at 27, 27 and similarcounterbored apertures 28, 28 are provided on the bottom deck boards 15aand 15b as shown in Figure 2 so as to permit the use of a washer 29 anda nut 30. Preferably, the intermediate deck boards 14c, 14d and 142 areattached by nails 31, 31, as are the intermediate lower deck boards 15cand 15d, while the external edge surfaces of the deck boards 15a 3 and bare preferably provided wtih flats 32, 32 that facilitate entry of thefork lifts of a lifting truck.

In use or operation of the improved pallet, it will first be assumedthat the pallet has been constructed as shown in Figures 1 and 2, and atthis time, the pallet may be placed on the floor, with the lower deckboards 15, 15 being in contact therewith.

At this point, a load may be placed on the top deck boards 14, 14 andwhen it is desired to move the pallet, it is merely necessary that achain from a crane or other lifting device be passed underneath the deckboards 14, 14 and wrapped around the reinforcing members and 21 and thenreturned to the lifting ring so as to permit lifting of the pallet andload thereon when two such chains have been installed.

Upon lifting, it will be seen that the chains will exert a pressure onthe members 2tland 21 in a direction parallel to the longitudinal extentof stringers 11, 12 and 13, and it is believed apparent that thereinforcing member will enable these members to resist this pressure'due to the fact that the members bear against the shoulder portion ofeach recess 16 that is provided on each stringer. This resistance willbe additionally supplemented by the resistance provided by the bolts 24,24, as well as the resistance provid:d by the action of the leg 23against the end deck boards 15a and 15b. Thus, because the entire deviceis tied together by the bolts 24, 24, all structural components coacttogether to resist distortion or bending of the reninforcing members 20and 21, with the result that the pallet will be enabled to accommodatelarger and more flexible loads than would otherwise be possible if thesame were not provided with such reinforcements.

In Figure 3, there is shown a modified form of the invention thatdiffers only in the construction of the bolt 24, which has beenredesignated by the numeral 40 in Figure 3 of the drawings, with allother component parts retaining their identical numerals previouslyemployed.

Accordingly, in Figure 3 the bolt 40 is shown formed with an annularshoulder 41 that is seated in a counterbore 42 that is provided on thedeck boards 14a and 14b, with the counterbore 42 being concentric to thepreviously described bore 26.

In this modified form of the invention, the lifting force absorbed bythe member 20, for example, will be, in part, transmitted to theshoulder 42, with the result that the load will also be transferred towasher 29 so that all components of the pallet are coacting together toprovide increased rigidity to the overall pallet.

While a full and complete disclosure of the invention has been set forthin accordance with the dictates of the patent statutes, it is to beunderstood that the invention is not intended to be so limited.

Thus, while the invention has been described in connection with What isconventionally referred to as a stringer design type of pallet, it is tobe understood that the invention will be equally applicable to a blockdesign type of pallet construction of the type that is normally employedin connection with four-way entry types of pallets.

Similarly, while a specific shape and configuration of reinforcingmember has been shown, it is to be understood that the shape could bevaried and that the material thereof could be also varied within a widerange of equivalence.

Accordingly, modifications of the invention may be resorted to withoutdeparting from the spirit hereof or the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A pallet of the character described, comprising; a plurality ofelongate stringers arranged in substantial parallelism with each otherand having transversely aligned longitudinal ends and paralleldeckboard-receiving surfaces; a plurality of elongate deckboardsreceived on said deckboard-receiving surfaces and extending transverselyof said stringers and including an end deckboard that has a longitudinaledge disposed adjacent the aligned longitudinal ends of said stringers;an elongate rigid reinforcing member extending transversely of saidaligned longitudinal ends and being removably sandwiched between thelongitudinal ends of said stringers and said end deckboard; and boltmeans engaging said deckboard and said stringers and drawing saidstringers and said end deckboard towards each other and against thesandwiched surfaces of said reinforcing member whereby said removablypositioned sandwiched portion of said reinforcing member is releasablysecured against transverse shifting relatively of said stringers andsaid end deckboard upon drawing up of said bolt means.

2. The device of claim 1 further characterized by the fact that saidreinforcing member is of L-shaped crosssection with one leg beingsandwiched between said stringer and said end deckboard while the otherleg portion abuts said longitudinal edge of said end deckboard; saidsandwiched portion of said reinforcing member being provided with atleast one aperture; said bolt means including at least one bolt passingthrough said aperture.

3. The device of claim 1 further characterized by the fact that saidbolt means include a bolt having a head and shank portion; said shankportion being made up of abutting sections of different diameter withthe largest diameter portion thereof being adjacent said head; said headdrawing against said end deckboard; the shoulder between said differentdiameter shank portions drawing against said reinforcing plate; saidreduced diameter portion having a substantially greater longitudinallength than said largest diameter portion.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS1,349,917 Roberts Aug. 17, 1920 2,145,093 Quayle Jan. 24, 1939 2,405,535Weiss Aug. 6, 1946 2,465,148 Coonen Mar. 22, 1949 2,823,883 Bourdon Feb.18, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS 749,985 Great Britain June 6, 1956

